Neil Peart -- The Latest News

The dates for the 2011 Time Machine tour have been revealed on Rush.com:

Rush confirm The Time Machine Tour will visit new cities throughout North America and play a few return engagements beginning March 30th in Ft. Lauderdale and running through April 22nd in 2011 with dates in Greensboro, Nashville, Louisville, Toledo, Hershey, New York's esteemed Madison Square Garden, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Hamilton, Montreal and Baltimore. The tour also returns to North America in June with performances in select markets that will include cities such as New Orleans, Austin, Vancouver and a very special return play in Los Angeles -- more information on these dates and more soon!

Tickets for RUSH go on sale in select markets beginning December 6th at LiveNation.com

Tickets for the Rush performances will go on sale in Hershey, Detroit and Baltimore beginning Monday, Dec. 6th, with additional on-sales to follow. To benefit the relief efforts in Haiti, one dollar of each ticket sold will be donated through several charities including "Doctors Without Borders". Rush will also contribute a portion of their proceeds at the culmination of the tour.

Labels: Time Machine tour 2011

From 1982 to 1993, Neil Peart answered Modern Drummer readers' questions in the Ask a Pro column. These questions and answers are an interesting dialogue between Neil and his fans. Taken as a whole, they represent snapshots of Neil's opinions, knowledge, and priorities as a drummer.

Neil Peart Ask a Pro

Labels: Link of the Day

Neil Peart provided audio examples for this paperback book and CD published in 1997. It's currently out of print, but you can listen to the examples here: 

Drum Lessons with the Greats 2

Labels: Link of the Day

Here's a review of Neil Peart's cooking section of his website: Bubba's Bar 'N' Grill:

MC Tasted: Bubba's Bar 'N' Grill - Motorcyclist Magazine

Via Rushisband.com

Labels: Bubba's Bar N Grill

I'm going to try something new here. Every so often you'll see a "Link of the Day" entry, where I'll post a link to either a page on my site or another website. I hope you find these interesting!

For the first Link of the Day, here are Neil Peart's handwritten lyrics for Fly By Night.

Click the image or the link text below to see all the lyrics sheets and some details about the lyrics.

Fly By Night Lyrics Sheets

Labels: Link of the Day, lyrics

Neil Peart is in a new article on the Roland V-Drums official site. Among the pictures, there's one of Neil playing a stock V-Drums kit:

Neil Peart Article - Roland V-Drums Global Official Site

Quote from Neil in the article:

"I first introduced Roland V-Drums into my setup in 2001, during the writing and recording of our Vapor Trails album. On the subsequent tour, they became a fixture in my drum solos, as well as to trigger samples throughout our live show. I also played the V-Drums on our 30th Anniversary tour in 2004, on the Snakes and Arrows album and tours in 2006, '07, and '08 (thus they appear on the Rush in Rio, R30, and Snakes and Arrows Live DVDs and CDs), and now on our 2010 Time Machine tour. Over the years, the V-Drums have continued to improve in touch sensitivity, and in sound quality and variety, and I still find them not only fun to play, but a great creative addition to my percussion world."

--Neil Peart

Thanks to Rushisband.com for the head's up!

Labels: drums

Rush.com just confirmed 2011 Time Machine tour dates for Europe, as well as additional North America tour dates between March and July, 2011 -- primarily where Rush didn't play during 2010.

Here's the official announcement:

-------------------------------------

TIME MACHINE TOUR 2011
Rush has confirmed they will be extending the Time Machine Tour and coming to Europe this spring.

The following dates are confirmed, including Rush performing in Ireland for the first time ever.

More additional European announcements to come.

Thursday, May 12th Dublin O2
Saturday, May 14th Glasgow SECC
Monday, May 16th Sheffield Motorpoint Arena
Thursday, May 19th Manchester MEN Arena
Saturday, May 21st Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
Sunday, May 22nd Birmingham LG Arena
Wednesday, May 25th London O2

Rush.com members will be receiving a pre-sale notification on Monday, November 22nd that begins on Tuesday, November 23rd.

Tickets for the Time Machine Tour in Ireland & UK general on sale will commence at 9AM GMT on Friday, November 26th, 2010. Ticket links and details will be posted shortly.

Additional European dates will be announced shortly!

Also confirmed today, the Time Machine tour will return to North America for a selection of dates between March and July, primarily with Rush performing in markets not played on the previous tour run this summer.

Labels: Time Machine tour

Neil has posted reviews of the following books for December, 2010:

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000), Michael Chabon

The Lacuna (2009), Barbara Kingsolver

NEP - recommended reading

Labels: Bubba's Book Club, written by NEP

I've recently expanded my Drums of Neil Peart page to include detailed information about every kit Neil has played. After fitting all the drums onto one page for the past few years, I realized it would be better for each drum kit to have its own page.

Neil Peart's current kit page now points to the Time Machine drum kit.

Let me know if you have any feedback.

Labels: drums, Site updates

Lorne Wheaton, Neil Peart's long-time drum tech, posted new pictures of Neil and his drums on his website recently.

Go to LorneWheaton.com and click Pics. Then click the text on the left for different galleries (see screenshot below).

Here are some of my favorites:

Neil as O'Mally:

Broken sticks:

Lorne and Neil Backstage during the Snakes & Arrows tour:

Neil and Lorne at Radio City Music Hall during the R30 tour:

Labels: Lorne Wheaton, pictures

Neil has written an article for Billboard where he reflects on "Rush's history as a touring band." Here's an excerpt:

This current Time Machine tour, through the summer and fall of 2010, has been a revelation--for the three of us as musicians, feeling ourselves evolve into an even tighter and more energized unit (that alone is no mean feat after 36 years together), but it is also about the audience. Every night I look out from behind the drums and see all of those faces reflecting such joy from what the three of us do together. So many of those people have grown up with us, just as we have grown up with them.

As I wrote recently, "When people care so much about what you do, you can't help but care about it more."

NEIL PEART: 'A LIFE OF LIGHTED STAGES'

Via Rushisaband.

Labels: written by NEP

Neil has posted a November, 2010, update to his website: "The Power of Magical Thinking."

There's also a chance to donate to Chile's "La Cruz Roja" (Red Cross), whose resources have been strained by the earthquake in February of this year -- as well as the rescue of the 33 miners at Camp Hope.

Let's all help out if we can.

Labels: neilpeart.net, News updates, written by NEP